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18 April 2026

Tag: A-levels

2022 exams: Labour wants ‘standardised’ teacher grades as plan B

Labour has called for a “standardised” version of teacher-assessed grades as a plan B in case Covid forces another year of cancelled exams. If exams go ahead, the opposition is calling for grades to be pinned at 2020 levels, despite concerns over “baking in” grade inflation. But, setting out its own proposals for GCSE, BTEC […]

Gibb and Ofqual to face education committee hearing over exams

Schools minister Nick Gibb and the leadership of exams regulator Ofqual will face questions from MPs at an education committee hearing on this summer’s results and plans for 2022. The committee has announced today that Gibb will appear alongside Ofqual’s interim chief regulator Simon Lebus and interim chair Ian Bauckham. It comes as Lebus, who […]

GCSE results 2021: Top grades rise to 30%, while disadvantaged gap widens

Three in ten GCSE results handed out this year were top grades, with the number of pupils scoring a flush of 9 grades having quadrupled since 2019. But Ofqual found there was a “slight widening” of the “longstanding” results gap between students on free school meals and their better-off peers. Today’s increase in top grades […]

‘Permanently rebase’ exam grades to 2020 levels, says former DfE adviser

Exam grades should be “permanently rebased” to 2020 levels despite fears about “baking in” grade inflation, a report by a former government education adviser has recommended. The Institute for Government’s Covid tests: school exams in 2022 and beyond report, written by former Michael Gove aide Sam Freedman, also called for a “full review” of secondary assessment. […]

DfE set to pay majority of £10k medical school move incentives

The Department for Education is set to stump up most of the cash for a scheme which will pay would-be medicine and dentistry students £10,000 to take up an alternative place if their chosen medical school is over-subscribed. It is understood the government expects to shoulder £6,500 of the cost of each payout under a […]

A-level results 2021: Which subjects saw the biggest rise in top grades?

This year’s record-breaking A-level results has seen the proportion of top grades issued to pupils increase to more than 44 per cent. However, the rise in top grades has not been uniform across all subjects – with some subjects seeing triple the proportion of extra pupils earning top marks. Overall the proportion of A* and […]

A-level results 2021: Top grades rise to 44% in record-breaking year

The proportion of top A-level grades handed out this year has increased to more than 44 per cent following the cancellation of exams and switch to teacher assessed grades. The record-breaking results saw 37 per cent of all A-level students in England get three As or better – more than double the 17.9 per cent […]

A-level results 2021: 6 key trends in England’s data

A-level results are out – here’s what we know.   1. Overall performance in England The proportion of A* and A grades has risen again this year to 44.3 per cent. That’s up on the 38.1 per cent in last year’s teacher-assessed grades and a huge rise on the 25.2 per cent of grades in […]